Come get in on the ground floor with the playwrights of tomorrow! Each night you’ll hear script-in-hand readings of new short plays from the Department of Theatre and Dance’s Playwriting program (THAR 376/377 Playwriting I/II).
We’ve got all kinds of amazing new dramatic worlds this year. The last festival ranged from homicidal friend-group suspense dramas to manga high school romances to weird tales of resistance to authoritarian Ikeas. What will this year’s festival bring?
Performances Fri-Sun, Dec. 1, 2, and 3, 2023
Audition Details
To Sign Up
To Sign Up, you must fill read all the information on this webpage and fill out this SIGN-UP FORM by Friday, August 25, 2023.
Additionally, we will hold brief Informational Meetings at times TBD during the first week of class to answer any questions and discuss the festival process.
If you want to be considered to act and/or direct in the Mega Hot festival, you must fill out the Mega Hot Sign-Up Form by Friday, August 25.
Actors: There is NO audition for this show! We need a large cast of many actors, and all you need to do is fill out the Sign-Up Form to be considered. Open to all SSU Students.
Directors: If you want to be considered to direct a play in the festival, please make sure to fill out the form. Students who have previously taken THAR 350 Directing Workshop are particularly encouraged to apply.
While there is no audition or interview required, in some cases for students who have not worked in the department previously, the Festival Director may schedule an appointment to ask for a brief reading for interested actors or a brief interview for interested directors.
Commitments
Pre-Rehearsal Timeline
Actor and Director Sign-Up Deadline: Friday, August 25
Festival Director confirms Actor and Director participation in Mega Hot Company: Thursday, August 31
All confirmed Actors and Directors in Mega Hot Company must enroll in THAR 302:001 Drama Ensemble Workshop by the end of Add/Drop period: Friday, September 1
Once the Company is confirmed, there is nothing else to do until much later in the semester, until the playwrights have finished drafting their plays. Once they have done that, the Festival Director will announce specific casting and directing assignments.
Casting and Directing Assignments within Mega Hot Company Announced: Wednesday, Nov. 1
CONFLICTS: Please note that due to rehearsal conflicts, you may not participate in the MEGA HOT festival if you are cast in IN THE HEIGHTS. You may participate if you are involved in FALL DANCE
Rehearsal Call Times
Mega Hot Full Cast and Company Meeting (including playwrights and directors):
Wednesday, Nov. 8, 6-10 pm, Ives 76
Rehearsals (most actors will not be called for all of these rehearsal times) – Locations TBD for all rehearsals, most likely all in Ives Hall:
Monday Nov. 27 6-10:30 pm
Tuesday, Nov. 28 6-10:30 pm
Wednesday, Nov. 29, 6-10:30 pm
Thursday, Nov. 30, 6-10:30 pm
Director's meeting Nov. 7 | 6-7pm | Ives 76
Technical Rehearsals
Thursday, Nov. 30 6-10:30 pm, Ives 76 (simultaneous with ongoing play rehearsals in other rooms)
Performances
Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, Dec. 3 at 2 pm (Post-show discussion with company to follow performance)
Sunday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 pm
Ives 76
Available Roles
Please note there is no memorization required – these are play readings!
The general vibe is a week of new play rehearsal madness where we rehearse everything really quickly then do the public readings in a garage-style setting in Ives 76 and play loud music. It’s a celebration of the creative process and of new work.
You may be cast in one or multiple plays, you may be cast as a character in a play and/or a stage direction reader. All casting is done by the Festival Director. We anticipate having roughly a dozen new short plays in this year’s festival.
The Mega Hot festival consists of readings of the work from our Playwriting I and II classes (THAR 376 and 377). It’s the moment when the work, having incubated for many weeks, is finally born, when it bursts out into stage light and takes its first breath.
Play readings like those in Mega Hot are just a step in the script’s journey, as writers draft and re-draft until they get a script to the point where it is ready for a full production. Based on everything they will learn this festival, the playwrights will revise their plays yet again before their work for the semester comes to a close.
By acting in a play reading, you are the first actor ever to embody and voice your character, and the playwright will learn so much from everything you bring to the role and from discussion with you during the process. New play work is a unique and beautiful skill-set for an actor to develop. It requires a special kind of listening, sensitivity, risk-taking, care, and sense of play, and many actors make distinguished careers based on their reputation as new play actors.
Special Notes
Performers of all backgrounds will be considered for all roles. If you would like the Festival Director to take specific consideration of any interests or concerns regarding your cultural identity (race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc.) in terms of things you are hoping to explore or would prefer not to explore as part of an ensemble performance process, please note this on the Audition Questionnaire and/or contact the Festival Director directly.